I may be from Detroit but my home is on the trail. My name is Chris Hillier but other hikers call me Wolverine.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
The Great Heron Controversy
Seems not everyone is a fan of the proposed trail. As the trail runs through River Bend Park in Shelby Township, it coincides with an established trail that runs near a great blue heron nesting site. There's concern that hikers and bikers passing by would disturb the fragile heronry. In my research, I came across this article from the C and G News. I've also visited the nesting site myself. It doesn't seem like the trail runs close enough to the birds to bother them and there's plenty of signage warning people of the fragile nature of the nesting wading birds.
I'll continue looking into it. Additional comments and information on the subject are welcome here.
I spent today hiking around the West Bloomfield Woods and Nature Preserve looking for heron nests. Found miles of beautiful trails but no nests. I sent an email to their website asking about the birds and was pleased to get a prompt reply. They said the birds no longer nest there. Not sure whether this is due to an ice storm that hit the area years ago or because of human interference from hikers and bikers using the nearby trails. My research continues.
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